


lost in translation

by Fluoradine



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gay, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Planning, Weddings, Zarya is a sap, Zenyatta fears for his life, very gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-08 20:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11089311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluoradine/pseuds/Fluoradine
Summary: As Zarya and Mei plan their upcoming wedding, Zarya is preparing a surprise behind her soon-to-be-wife's back to say her vows in Chinese for her. Unfortunately, the only other person on the Overwatch base who speaks the language is Zenyatta, whom Zarya isn't exactly fond of. But she sucks it up for her girlfriend, and gets the Omnic to help her learn her vows.





	1. the idea

**Author's Note:**

> i know i'm publishing this pretty late - i'll edit for grammar and flow when i get the chance. but i love these gals and they deserve it from me so enjoy!

“It’s not a problem, Alex, okay? I’m sure a bow tie will look just as good on you. You don’t have to tie those ones up at all.”

“But I’ve bought this one already! If I don’t wear it, it will be a waste. Besides, who am I if I am to be beaten by a tie? This foe shall not defeat me!”

Mei giggled as Zarya tried again to tie the gold tie around her neck, failing once more as it ended up in a tight knot instead of the one she’d been going for. She unravelled it, straightened it out, and tried again.

“Over once, twice over, underneath and…ah, I have lost it again.” Zarya said as the now-wrinkled tie came undone, falling back into her hands. Mei giggled, and Zarya gave her a fake glare.

“You know, this is not the easiest task to do. I’d love to see you try, mishka.”

Mei shrugged, lifting her legs up to sit more comfortably on the couch. “Oh, no. I’m not the one that has to wear it, after all. You can still get a bow tie, you know…”

“I thought I told you before, Mei, I won’t let this defeat me!” Zarya said in a passionate tone, and Mei giggled again. Hearing her laugh made Zarya fall in love with her all over again, and she smiled, knowing exactly why she was trying so damn hard to tie this tie on.

It had been two years officially since Aleksandra Zaryanova and Mei-Ling Zhou had met in Overwatch, and since then it had been a flurry of cute dates, love confessions, and good memories. They’d been together for a long time, staying strong through all the danger that being an Overwatch agent came with, as well as their constant trips around the world to separate places. Zarya knew she must be the luckiest woman in the world to get to love someone as amazing, clever, and beautiful as Mei, who had practically swept Zarya off her feet when the two first met. She knew that if she had the chance to always be with her, she would take it in an instant - and that was why they were getting married in a month.

Mei had been the one to propose, and Zarya had known nothing about it until she left her little robot, Snowball, on the table to do some repairs for. They were the only robot Zarya could stand being around for more than five minutes, and she assumed that was why the ever-shy Mei had hidden the silver ring with Snowball for Zarya to eventually find. After she’d finished crying, Zarya had rushed to tell everyone she knew, which included a few Overwatch agents and many Russian soldiers, who were actually happy to hear the news, despite being awoken at three in the morning to hear it. 

Through all the preparation for the ceremony they’d been doing for the last three months, Mei had been intent on having all of their friends and family there, no matter how hard that would be to accomplish. She had always been unapologetic about her love for Zarya and other women, and Zarya knew she wouldn’t dare miss this chance to show off. And that criteria had been filled in perfectly when Mei’s mother had called from her home in Xi’an with a request to have the ceremony in China, where all of Mei’s remaining family could see her, and get to meet this woman that she’d told them so much about. Zarya had agreed to go after seeing Mei’s excitement to return home for such an important event. Mei’s happiness was her one weakness, after all, and she never liked to turn up an occasion to travel somewhere new. 

“Having the ceremony back home will be so fun, Aleksandra! You can meet my sisters, Jingyi and Lan…I might have told them you can lift them both over your head at the same time, so you might want to live up to that…” Mei had gushed when her mother finished calling, already rushing to plan the flight back to Xi’an and arrange for guests to attend with them. While Zarya was a little bit nervous about meeting her soon-to-be wife’s family for the first time, she knew it would be great to have the ceremony in Mei’s old home. She knew that Mei was close with her mother, who was very old in age but still loved her daughter very much, and called her every week just to have a conversation that Zarya was there for more than often. Being out for a week would be fun, at least - both women could take a break from the busy life of an Overwatch agent just to celebrate their love for each other. 

So, they’d been planning the wedding for the past two months - organizing the outfits they’d wear, hence Zarya’s trouble with the tie she bought to match Mei’s red and gold dress - as well as their flight, paid vacation from Overwatch, and other details, such as helping their other friends get there. But despite the hard work that took, Zarya and Mei still found time to relax together, sometimes fitting in a bit more preparation during a calm time, and sometimes forgetting that they had to worry about a wedding at all. This was one of those chill times, just getting to sit down and learn how to tie a tie, even though Zarya’s situation hadn’t improved since her last few attempts. 

“Little bear, I assume you don’t know how to do this, either?” Zarya asked, folding up the tie and setting it down on the coffee table. 

Mei shook her head. “I would have tried if I did. Looks like we’re out of luck.”

Zarya got up from the couch. “It looks like I will have to learn myself. Thank you for all your help, Mei.”

Mei frowned. “You know I didn’t do anything but laugh at you, Alex.”

“Yes. And getting to hear your laughter is the best help you can give me,” Zarya said, kissing Mei on the forehead before turning for the door. “I have to go for a few minutes, but I will not be long. Are you going to sleep now?”

“Yes. Don’t be too long or I’ll take all the pillows for myself,” Mei said, getting up from the couch and stretching her legs. “Is it anything important?”

“No, just something I’d like to take care of before I go to bed,” Zarya said. “You understand, right? Goodnight, Mei.”

“Night, Aleksandra!” Mei chirped, and Zarya left for the hallway, still beaming from getting to spend downtime with her girlfriend. Being with Mei always made her feel so happy - she couldn’t wait to do it for the rest of her life.

But, as for now, Zarya had something to figure out. While she had been planning everything for the wedding alongside with Mei, she’d been hiding just one thing from her; her wedding vows, and how she wanted to read them. Zarya had been coming up with a plan ever since she knew the ceremony was going to be in China. But she needed someone to help her get it done, and tonight, she was planning on finding them somewhere on the base. 

Zarya had already written her vows in Russian, detailing the things she loved best about Mei and all the hopes she had for their future together. Then she’d translated it to English, having to leave behind some words that had no literal translation to her disappointment, because neither Mei nor her family would understand if she spoke in Russian. Zarya had been cutting out what she wanted to say in her native tongue so that it would fit into their shared language, when she realized a way she could get around it: saying her vows in Chinese, so that Mei and all her friends and family would understand perfectly how much she loved her. 

Unfortunately, there was just one problem with that plan. While Overwatch certainly had a diverse variety of agents, they didn’t exactly have any agents from the same country. Mei was the only person on the base who spoke Mandarin Chinese, and asking her to translate the vows would only ruin the surprise. Zarya knew she would have to look for someone that knew someone who spoke the language, and she knew it would not be an easy task. But she was not one to give up easily. This was only a small obstacle to her goal, and even if it took all night, Zarya would find someone to translate the vows for her into her future wife’s native language.

The base was pretty quiet as everyone began to wind down and head to bed. Zarya walked in on a few people who didn’t want to be bothered, including Hana in an intense match of Starcraft and Reinhardt practicing a slow waltz with his hammer. She did get to talk to Satya, who said she knew only a few words in Mandarin, obviously not enough to translate an entire speech. The two women ended up having a very nice conversation afterwards, which only ended when Satya was interrupted by Angela asking her where all of the towels in the women’s showers had gone. Upon seeing Satya’s array of blue and white towels on the other side of the room, Zarya decided it was best to look somewhere else. 

Eventually, Zarya found her way to the kitchenette, where Lúcio was having a large bowl of soup with a blanket draped over his shoulders. Zarya wondered for a minute if she should leave him alone, then thought better of it and went to talk to him. She knew very little about the DJ other than that he was a force for good, just like her, who was willing to do anything to protect his country. And he made some good music, too, she guessed. Hopefully he would know someone who could help. “How are you doing, Lúcio?”

“Zarya?” Lúcio turned his head to see her as she walked inside the small room. With Lúcio sitting at the counter, the room was very small, with almost no room for Zarya to stand. Yet she still found a way to lean against the counter and see Lúcio, who looked very tired after a long day of Overwatch duties. “I’m, uh, okay. Pretty worn out, actually. Did you want something, or just wanna talk? Can’t say I’m in the mood for conversation, but I can try.”

“No need to push yourself. May I ask you about something important to me?” Zarya asked him. 

Lúcio nodded. “Is it short, though?”

“It should be.”

“Alright. Lemme hear it.”

“I have a dilemma.”

Lúcio put down his spoon. “What is it?”

“You are aware that me and Mei-Ling will be getting married soon, correct?” Zarya began to explain, leaning in from the tight space between the counter and the appliances. He nodded, which was her cue to continue. “Well, her mother has requested to see her daughter marry ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’ - her words now, not mine - and so we will be going to Xi’an for the ceremony.”

“That sounds great. I don’t have money for a plane ticket, if that’s what you want.” Lúcio said.

Zarya shook her head. “No, no, no money. My dilemma is this: I want to deliver my vows in Chinese to her. So everyone there will understand how much she means to me. And, unfortunately, my Chinese is very limited. I was wondering if you could help, somehow?”

Lúcio didn’t answer right away. He sat with an expression that was mixture of confused and displeased for a few seconds. “Unfortunately, my Chinese is pretty limited, too. Sorry, Alex - can’t really help you out here. And I don’t think there’s anyone else on the base who speaks Mandarin besides Mei. Don’t think you’re gonna want to online-translate this one, either…”

“No. Ah…it’s alright.” Zarya sighed. She’d known this idea was far-fetched since she came up with it. But unfortunately, she’d already become attached to it, and was determined to make it happen. And when Aleksandra Zaryanova was determined, no man nor woman nor anyone else dared to stand in her way. She would go and find a language tutor if she had to, just to learn this for Mei. “Are you sure you know no one else who speaks Chinese here?”

Lúcio thought for a minute. He seemed very focused on going through all the Overwatch agents he knew, picking out which might secretly speak another language than their primary and English. He stayed concentrated until suddenly, he stopped, and frowned. “Oh, yeah, there is someone else who might speak it, but you’re not gonna like it.”

“Who is it?” Zarya demanded to know.

“Zenyatta has a translator chip installed,” Lúcio said, and Zarya swore she saw him smirk as he did. “I’d assume he can translate whatever you wrote down into Chinese for you, no trouble at all. Except…”

“No. Absolutely not.” Zarya interrupted. Under no circumstances would she speak to an _Omnic_ on how to say her wedding vows properly in Chinese. She would have to find another way. That was an obstacle she refused to go through. 

Lúcio shrugged. “Well, as far as I know, that’s your only option. I’m not gonna go find you a tutor or anything - it’s your wedding, after all. You could just say it in English to be easy.”

“But I don’t want to.” Zarya said, and for a moment, she considered going back on that ‘absolutely not’. Zenyatta and herself had never spoken outside of Zarya threatening to tear his arms off during battle, and she couldn’t say she had any motivation to be his friend. But from what she knew of him, he was quite patient, always willing to teach someone in need of help. Zarya scoffed at that. She was not in need of help, exactly - just wanted a little bit of assistance. She was fairly sure she could learn it on her own, anyway - yes, she didn’t need an Omnic to help her. When Zarya was determined, she could do anything she put her mind to.

But a part of her knew that learning perfect pronunciation and translation was probably impossible this close to the date. And out of everyone she asked, Lúcio had been the only one who had given her an answer that would help. She might have to rethink that ‘absolutely not’ after all if it meant sticking to her plan. 

“Choice is yours,” Lúcio shrugged. “Just try not to kill him. Don’t think he’d survive one of your punches, to be honest…”

“Yes, I know.” Zarya said, and she sighed. Normally, she would flat out refuse to be taught anything by an Omnic. But this was for Mei, her soon-to-be wife, who she would honestly do anything for. And if ‘anything’ included being taught Chinese by the Omnic Zenyatta, then Zarya would just have to suck it up. “Thank you, Lúcio. I will…see what I can do.”

“Hey, any time. Just maybe not right now. Had a long mission today and I’d kinda like to chill for now.” Lúcio said, picking his spoon back up. Zarya nodded, and squeezed her way out of the kitchenette to leave him alone to rest. 

The thought of Lúcio’s solution stuck in Zarya’s mind as she returned back to her room. Honestly, she didn’t really know if she’d survive being taught by an Omnic - actually, she didn’t know if _he'd_ survive her. But, when it came down to it, it was this way or nothing else. And Zarya had spent too long imagining how beautiful her vows would be on the day in Mei’s first language, in her hometown surrounded by family and friends. Giving it up would practically be like giving up a lifelong dream, something Zarya had done once and had no need to do again.

Zarya entered her living room, picking up the gold tie on the coffee table and taking it to her closet. She frowned as she did so, mentally working out the kinks of scheduling times to meet with Zenyatta. They would start tomorrow whether he liked it or not. And Zarya would try not to be so dramatic about talking with him for longer than two minutes without hurling an insult his way. Hopefully it wouldn’t be as bad as she imagined. 

As Zarya laid down next to her girlfriend to sleep soon after, she listened to the sound of Mei breathing in and out. Soon, she would get to hear her beside her every single night, as her wife. And if she could make just one day perfect for her, the day to remind her how much she loved her, Zarya would do it despite all obstacles in the way. She smiled as she closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep thinking only lovely, gay thoughts.


	2. the lessons

“You want me to teach you Mandarin?”

“Not the entire language,” Zarya grunted, handing Zenyatta her vows in their original Russian. “Just this.”

The Omnic stared down at the paper for a few seconds without speaking. “A moment, please. It does take a second or two to switch my primary language.” he explained, holding the pristine paper closer to what Zarya could only assume were his ‘eyes’. 

“Just get on with it.” Zarya said, and she sat down on the grey futon not too far away from where Zenyatta hovered. He did not make any comment towards her sitting down without permission - just moved an inch or two away from her. Zarya crossed her arms, and waited for him to read what she’d written. 

Zarya had shown up in Zenyatta’s quarters a few minutes ago, after finding directions from various members of the team, who all asked if she was alright or if she was planning on doing anything dangerous when they found out where she was going. Zarya wasn’t planning on harming Zenyatta at all, though she was still reluctant to be in the same room as him for around an hour. 

She’d managed to slip away from Mei, who had made them both a very nice breakfast that Zarya spent longer than she should have eating. She’d gone down to the lab just before Zarya left, kissing her on the cheek and reminding her about organizing who’s ride they would be taking to the airport for the wedding. Zarya had spent a few more minutes trying to tie her tie again, having to look up the instructions for herself and nearly getting it once or twice. Just thinking about the wedding that was coming sooner than Zarya thought, and how wonderful it would be with her vows said in Chinese in front of Mei’s whole family gave Zarya the determination she needed to go and seek out the Omnic’s assistance.

Zenyatta’s room was on the third floor of the base, along with the rest of the support agents and Overwatch’s medical staff. It was larger than Zarya had expected - she didn’t really know why an Omnic required a closet, a bed, and a sink, as well as a toilet in their living quarters. He had decorated it with many lights and candles, some hanging from the ceiling and some sitting on the windowsill that looked out onto the sea. Zarya felt a little attacked by its beauty, especially when her own room looked mainly the same as everyone else’s, save for the posters on her wall and Mei’s post-it notes everywhere.

“Hm….” Zenyatta interrupted the silence by humming, before making a sound that sounded like a satisfied sigh. “Oh, Aleksandra, this is beautiful! You have quite the way with words, I must say. I am sure Mei-Ling will love every piece of this.”

“I have no need for your compliment,” Zarya said. “But, for what it is worth, I accept it. Now, you must translate it into her native Chinese and teach me how to speak it.”

“All of this?” Zenyatta asked, showing Zarya the paper as if she didn’t know how long her own wedding vows were. She was going to say something back before he quickly turned the paper back to himself. “Yes, well, I suppose I could do it, but I would need a few minutes at first.”

“I have no time to waste, Omnic. This must be done as fast as possible.”

Zenyatta nodded slowly, and floated his way over to his desk, which was another thing Zarya was sure he didn’t need to have. He rooted around in one of the drawers for a pen and a piece of paper. “A warrior’s greatest weapon is patience, Aleksandra. I am sure you can wait a few minutes for perfection.”

Zarya huffed. “Fine, but I am not moving from my position.”

“I see no problem with that,” Zenyatta said, scribbling a few lines with the pen to check it still had ink. “Do make yourself comfortable.”

Zarya crossed her legs over each other, and sat to wait while Zenyatta translated the vows for her. It took a few minutes for him to finish the task, and Zarya closed her eyes while he did. She daydreamed about the wedding - Mei’s dress and her suit, the faces of her family and friends, the summer breeze blowing through their outdoor ceremony - it made her smile for the first time since she’d gotten here. She hoped Zenyatta didn’t notice. 

“I believe I have translated it to the best of my ability,” Zenyatta said eventually, floating back over to Zarya and handing her a paper filled with Chinese characters. She made note that his handwriting was rather pretty. “I assume you have no prior knowledge on Mandarin Chinese, and even if you did, I have taken the regional dialect into consideration, so it-”

“It will hardly be a challenge.” Zarya said, taking the paper from Zenyatta and examining it closely before remembering that she couldn’t read Chinese. “Well, when will you start?”

“Start what?” Zenyatta asked, and Zarya glared at him for a moment. That seemed to jog his memory. “Ah, right, you want to know how to say it. We can start right away if you’d like-”

“Good. I’d expect nothing less.” Zarya said, and adjusted her position on the futon. Zenyatta floated to sit next to her, though a little hesitantly, as Zarya was still glaring down at him. He motioned his hands for the paper, but Zarya did not give it back to him, instead holding it out so he could see it. Zenyatta made a sound that sounded like a deep breath. 

“Now, Mandarin is a language of characters, rather than letters arranged in a specific order,” he began to explain. “Each has its own sound, and distinct appearance. Most words are made up of one to two characters, though longer English words will be made up of more characters. Russian is similar, however, it still resembles a language made up of letters rather than characters. Do you follow so far?”

“Yes. Continue.” Zarya nodded.

“Wonderful - someone who is not a native speaker will not be able to pronounce the characters without seeing how they look in an English alphabet - you will not mind if I use English instead of Russian? It is much easier to show the pronunciation and accents using a non-characterized alphabet.”

“It is alright. Continue as you will.” Zarya said, and from there, her first Chinese lesson began. 

Zenyatta spent a while explaining the basics and fundamentals of Chinese before actually getting into Zarya’s vows. She learned that he liked the sound of his own voice a lot, something she was sure would annoy her eventually. She spent the first fifteen minutes learning ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’, as well as other basic phrases that Zenyatta deemed necessary to learn before getting into anything more complicated. “Learning new skills is like building a pyramid -without placing the first few bricks, it will have nothing to stand on. I am sure you learned this during your training?” he asked as she complained about the basic phrases being useless.

As the lesson went on, they eventually started progress on the vows. Zenyatta went through many more pieces of paper to write down the pronunciation of each character to make it easier for Zarya, who, despite claiming she would have no need for them, actually found it very helpful. A few of the words fell flat on her tongue due to her heavy Russian accent, and she tripped up more times than she would have liked. Throughout the hour she spent there, Zarya realizing that learning a whole new language was more difficult a feat than she anticipated. 

“How often should I return?” Zarya asked when Zenyatta deemed their time over. She got up from the futon, stretching her legs and arms apparently too close to Zenyatta, who she nearly elbowed in the face as he rose. 

“Learning a language is something that requires daily practice. I would suggest we meet again tomorrow - though, perhaps in a different setting? I did not know you would be coming and didn’t really have the time to clean up. May I suggest the greenhouse?”

Zarya nodded, wondering that if that was his room when it was dirty what it might look like when it was clean. “What is wrong with an indoor room?”

Zenyatta shrugged his shoulders. “I find it peaceful as well as helpful to learn outdoors. Especially with the summer weather. Shall we say ten in the morning?”

“Nine. Sharp. You had better not be late.” Zarya said, wondering if the Gibraltar base even had a greenhouse. If it did, she had no idea it was there. 

“Wonderful. And practice if you can, Aleksandra.” Zenyatta said as Zarya walked out and shut the door before he could finish his sentence. She breathed a sigh of relief after she had left the room, only now realizing just how many of Zenyatta’s candles were scented. 

Now that her first lesson was over, the hard part was, too. While Zarya certainly hadn’t enjoyed being taught by an Omnic, she didn’t hate it. Zenyatta seemed patient - talkative, a know-it-all, and possibly too polite, but at least he hadn’t refused her demand in the first place. Zarya had assumed he would be too chicken to teach her anything, but she’d been proved wrong. She laughed, thinking how it must have been a new challenge for the both of them. 

But now it was over, and Zarya was on her way to completing her plan. She hoped Mei would appreciate the work she put into the vows when she said them at the wedding, and loved them just as much as Zarya did. She stared down at the three papers Zenyatta had left her with, and thought that maybe this might work out.

 

Zarya had searched the base for an hour without any sign of Mei. The last she’d seen of her had been this morning at breakfast before she left for the lab. Now, it was nine, long after Zarya’s mission training ended, and Mei was nowhere to be found. She’d checked their room, the labs, and even the cafeteria with no luck. Zarya had no idea where else her girlfriend might be at this hour.

Once again, Zarya was combing her way through the base and running into random agents on their downtime. Though there seemed to be many more group activities going on tonight, including a large game of checkers in the tank quarters that apparently Zarya hadn’t been invited to. Hana had called her over to watch Mako and Reinhardt battle it out in the final, and she’d played a round versus the winner to see if he truly was the checker champion. 

She had gotten the chance to ask Hana if she’d seen Mei around, knowing how the two women sometimes met to share pictures from their trips around the world. But that gave her nothing. “Sorry, I haven’t seen her, Alexa. I’ll tell you if I do. Did you check the lab?”

“Yes, that was the first place I went to look.” Zarya nodded as she moved a piece around the board. 

“Hm. Thought she might have been doing some overtime work,” Hana frowned. “Well, she’s got to be here somewhere. Maybe she’s just in the shower.”

“I shall have to see.” Zarya said, taking a black piece off the board as Reinhardt sighed. 

“You two are getting married soon, right?” Hana asked, leaning back on the sofa and crossing her legs.  
“We are,” Zarya said, smiling as she did. “We’re very busy with preparing. We almost have no time for anything else.”

“Oh, that’s a lie. I saw you two taking a boat around the rock the other day,” Hana smirked. “You do know we’re not allowed to do that, right?”

Zarya shrugged. “Rules are made to be broken. Especially when you have someone to break the rules with.”

Hana laughed, and Zarya took another one of Reinhardt’s pieces off the board. “Are you even paying attention to this, Aleksandra?” he groaned.

“My hands are separate from my mouth. Of course I’m paying attention. Enough to do this,” Zarya said, jumping her piece over Reinhardt’s last two in a row. “And that. Reinhardt, how did you even win the last round?”

“Ah, it must have been my good luck. Or Mako’s eyesight. It isn’t what it used to be, you know.” Reinhardt whispered, as if Mako wouldn’t hear him from a few feet away. 

“Yep, totally believe that,” Hana laughed. “Do you have any idea where Mei might be, by the way?”

“Outside.” Mako grunted, and Zarya nodded as she put the checker pieces away.

“I will go and see. Have a good night, you all.” Zarya said before she left to go and find Mei.

She walked around inside for a while longer before following Mako’s advice. It had been a cold day, leading to an obnoxiously cold night, and it was just her luck that Zarya had left her coat in her room. She walked through the showers, finding no one except for Angela restocking towels who had no idea where Mei might be. She went down to the basement where there was only storage and the medbay, and no Mei. She went around to the gym and training rooms with no luck, and around to the support quarters where Lúcio had fallen asleep on the couch. She wondered if he was getting enough sleep these days.

Eventually, Zarya sucked it up and went outside, where the moon was shining bright in the sky. On this side of the base, there were no boats floating in the water or extra storage units taking up the land. It was empty land, with nothing but an open grassy space where agents held events during the summer and stargazed during the nights. And there were plenty of stars out tonight, so many that Zarya could even see a few constellations that she remembered the names of. There was no sound except for crickets chirping and waves crashing against the rocks to fill the air with something other than silence. 

As Zarya walked around, she eventually saw Mei sitting in the grass, admiring the full moon. From a distance, she looked so much smaller than she actually was, as if she wasn’t actually Mei but someone like Efi. But Zarya would know her girlfriend anywhere, even just by her silhouette. Relieved that she’d found her at last, she went over to sit next to her in the grass.

“I had been looking for you, _mishka_ ,” Zarya said as she sat down, making Mei gasp in surprise. “Where did you go after the lab?”

“I had some extra work to do, and then I went to talk to some friends. Sorry I didn’t tell you.” Mei said, moving over to let Zarya sit right next to her. 

“No need to be sorry. I’m glad I found you here,” Zarya said, looking up at the sky. “Why are you here, by the way?”

Mei held out her hand. “It looks so pretty in the moonlight.” she said, and Zarya looked down at the silver engagement ring on her fourth finger. It was the exact same as Zarya’s, after she’d insisted that they both have rings to show off and cherish. The pearl in the middle was a creamy white, and Mei was right - it practically shone under the bright moonlight, along with the rest of the silver ring that gleamed in the light. 

“It looks gorgeous.” Zarya said, showing Mei her matching one. It hadn’t left her hand since the day she’d gotten it, not even during missions or her rigorous training. By now, Zarya was thinking it could use a polish. It was a shame she wouldn’t need to wear it after they had the ceremony. Perhaps she could find an excuse to put it back on anyway. “You really are excited for this, aren’t you?”

“Of course. You are too, Alex. It’s the best thing I could ever ask to happen to me,” Mei smiled, and Zarya put her arm around her as she did. “You’re my longest relationship, you know?”

“I am?”

Mei nodded. “Before coming to Overwatch, my longest girlfriend was only with me for five months. Compared to two years with you, I think I can say I’m glad that I went though all those breakups. Or else I wouldn’t have met you, and we wouldn’t be getting married.”

“Well, those girls have no idea what they are missing.” Zarya said, and Mei giggled as she did. 

“It’s happening so soon, Alex. Honestly, I don’t think I can wait much longer. I won’t be just Mei-Ling Zhou, I’ll be….Mei-Ling Zaryanova?” Mei said, and Zarya giggled at that.

“Perhaps I should be Aleksandra Zhou instead,” she said. “Zarya Zhou does sound very pretty.”

“It does,” Mei said, staring back down at her ring. “I talked to my mom again today while I was at the lab. She wanted me to tell you she’s excited to meet you, and has been telling all her friends that the strongest woman in the world is marrying her oldest daughter. I told her not to brag, but…”

“Let her brag. We’re already showing off, she should get to too,” Zarya said. “Did she have anything else to say?”

“She’s inviting a friend to make the food for us. And another to make the cake. She asked how many people will want to have it?” 

“I assume my comrades will want as much as they can get their hands on,” Zarya said, referring to her friends from the Russian army who had been invited to the ceremony. “And so will your friends. And me.”

“And me,” Mei laughed, making Zarya smile. “I can’t wait for this to happen. I’m going to have a wife. Not just a girlfriend, but a wife.”

“So no more messages from you about how much you love your girlfriend?” Zarya asked, and Mei shook her head.

“Don’t worry, you’ll still get my messages. But this time, they’ll be about how much I love my wife.” she said, and Zarya smiled again. It really was a beautiful night outside, and being here with Mei made it ten times better. Once the ceremony was over and all the stress about it was gone, they would come back here and stargaze. Zarya would read up on astrology again and name the stars in Russian as well as Chinese, if her lessons went well enough. 

“Well, no matter who you are to me, I will always love you, _zvezda_.” Zarya said, leaning in to kiss Mei on the cheek. Mei responded by kissing her properly on the lips, and holding her hand as she did. They stayed like that for a while, kissing in the chilly weather underneath the stars, holding their hands with matching engagement rings. It felt like the epitome of love to Zarya, the only way she’d know it to be and the only way she ever would. Love meant nothing to her without Mei. She was Zarya’s dream girl, and she knew how lucky she was to get to be with her as her wife. 

Eventually, they stopped kissing, and Mei yawned. “Should we go to bed?” she asked Zarya, who nodded in response.

“As beautiful as it is out here, it is still cold. I think it will be much warmer in bed with you.”

“I have fuzzy pyjamas, if you want me to wear them?” Mei asked.

“I know, Mei. We have the same pair.” Zarya said, remembering the birthday gift Mei had gotten her last year. 

“Then we’ll sleep in style.” Mei said, and Zarya laughed. She leant in to kiss her again, knowing she wouldn’t want to be with anyone other than this dork for the rest of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> zvezda means star if google translate isn't lying to me <3\. sorry if there's any spelling/grammar mistakes, my hands kinda stopped matching up with my eyes a while ago and i gotta go to sleep. hope you enjoyed!


	3. the lessons, part two

It was past midnight in Gibraltar, and Zarya was alone in her room, completely ready to fall asleep but staying awake to talk to Mei. They’d been video chatting for the past hour, something that had started with a lively conversation but had eventually turned into Zarya just watching Mei do her work. She was on another Overwatch base in Bishek to exchange research with other scientists, apparently discussing plans for the planet’s recovery from the disastrous first two decades of the century. It had been a surprise conference, and Mei hadn’t been happy to leave for a whole four days this close to her wedding. But she’d gone anyways, trusting Zarya to take care of anything that happened on the base or with anyone who wasn’t her mother.

There was only a week left until Zarya and Mei got married in Xi’an. All of the careful and complicated details were out of the way, and there were only a few issues left to sort out before everything was ready. Zarya’s Russian friends would be arriving in China tomorrow, and Mei’s family was already coming together to set up the ceremony. Mei had insisted that her mother take a step back and let someone else help with the preparation, but she’d insisted she do it for her daughter. “At least you’ll have some more hands on deck when my comrades arrive,” Zarya had told her the other day before Mei left for her conference. “I know a few of them will be more than willing to help with decoration and heavy lifting.”

As the date got closer and closer, Zarya really began to feel her excitement grow. She had originally thought of the wedding as a far-off dream, something that was almost too good to be true, and probably the best thing that would ever happen to her. But now that it was only a few days away, Zarya was beginning to realize that it was actually going to happen; she was going to get married to her dream girl, the woman she’d loved unconditionally for two years that loved her just as much. Her friends in the army had always joked about her never being able to be satisfied with a partner for long, and for a long time she’d thought they were right. But soon her and Mei would be a pair, never one without the other for as long as possible. Zarya wouldn’t have to be alone ever again. Thinking about it now, she knew that nothing else could make her happier. 

“What are you doing now, Mei?” she asked as Mei put a huge white binder down on her desk. The empty lab she was working in was very clean, unlike her personal station in Gibraltar, which Zarya knew held a whole treasure-trove of samples and lost formulas, along with various other trash and framed pictures of friends covered in chemical stains. 

“This is Orbay’s research. It’s the second-last one I have to read through. Luckily, it’s not too big.” Mei explained as she opened the binder, taking out a lot of loose papers. She unfolded one, and squinted her eyes to read it. 

“That is small?”

“Oh, you should have seen Nazerov’s reports. They wrote nearly a thousand pages on restoring the Atlantic ecosystem. It was interesting, but perhaps a little too much.” Mei said, and Zarya smiled, knowing how much work Mei put into her job. She was a scientist because she loved it, even when she had to work long hours and travel far. Zarya knew quite a bit of physics, but that subject wasn’t anything close to climatology. She wondered how her and Mei ever got to talking in the first place when they used to have nothing in common. Still, she was happy they obviously found something to talk about for so long that they eventually fell in love with each other. 

“How long have you been working?” Zarya asked, rubbing her eyes to keep them open.

“Since nine this morning. What time is it in Gibraltar, again?”

“One in the morning.”

Mei gasped. “And you’re still awake?”

Zarya nodded. “I couldn’t go to sleep without knowing you were okay.”

“Alex, I’m perfectly fine,” Mei said, sighing through a little giggle. “Maybe a little better after seeing you now.”

“See, I have done the right thing. Every minute I get to see you is worth it.” Zarya said.

“You’re sure you’re not tired?” Mei asked as Zarya yawned.

“No, no, I am alright. I insist.” she reassured her.

Mei frowned. “You really should get to sleep. Don’t you have daily training at nine in the morning?”

Zarya nodded, remembering the time of her Chinese lessons with Zenyatta. “I know. But I didn’t want to waste the chance to see you again.”

“You’re so dramatic, Alex,” Mei giggled. “I’m only around 16 hours away. And I’ll be back in two days. Surely you can wait until then? And then until the wedding?”

“I will try my best, little bear.” Zarya said, blowing Mei a kiss. She laughed again, and Zarya smiled. 

“Go to bed, okay? I have a lot of reading to get through, and you have beauty sleep to get.” Mei said, her smile taking away from the sternness of her tone.

“I don’t know if I am even tired enough,” Zarya sighed playfully. “Maybe you could read me some of that to tire me out?”

“This?” Mei held up one of the loose papers she’d taken out of the binder, and Zarya nodded. “I doubt you’d be interested in it. I…oh, of course you aren’t. You just want to hear me read to you, right?”

“Always so smart, Mei. As long as I’m not dragging you away from anything important.” Zarya smiled, and it was true; Mei’s voice was one of the things that Zarya loved best about her, among many others. 

Mei shook her head. “No, no, I’ll understand it better if I read it out loud, actually. But pay attention, okay? I’ll quiz you at the end.”

Zarya nodded, and brought her computer back with her as she laid down in bed, pulling the covers over herself to get comfortable as Mei began to read. “Marine life is a vast resource, providing food, medicine, and raw materials to the world. At a fundamental level, marine life helps determine the very nature of our planet. Marine organisms contribute significantly to the oxygen cycle, and are involved in the regulation of our earth’s climate. In studying Doctor Katherine Zangul’s research from 2018 to 2025 on patterns of marine life expectancy in the Atlantic ocean, I have concluded that…”

Mei had been right - Zarya had no interest in the actual research, though she could tell whoever this Orbay was had done quite a lot of work in their field. She just enjoyed hearing Mei’s voice, mixed with some static from the online connection but still comforting and calming. She fell asleep before Mei could quiz her, and knew that Mei didn’t care about it either. If she knew anything about Mei, she knew that she had been happy seeing her fall asleep peacefully, and hopefully got some work done after she’d closed her eyes. Now Zarya would rest, and Mei would focus on her second love, hours apart but still in the same place at heart. 

 

Zarya breathed a sigh of relief as she finished reciting her vows again. “How was that?”

Zenyatta hummed in consideration. “It was good, very good. Not exactly perfect, but I don’t expect you to speak the language fluently. It is excellent for a foreigner, however.”

“Then we must keep practicing.” Zarya said, stretching out her arms while avoiding knocking over a potted plant. The base greenhouse had been their classroom for the past three weeks as Zarya learned all of her vows in Chinese. She met with Zenyatta for an hour and a half each day to go over them, each time the accents fitting better on her tongue and the characters becoming more familiar. “You can stay for another hour, correct?” Zarya asked.

Zenyatta nodded. “As always, I have nothing else to miss. I must say I admire your determination, Aleksandra.”

“It is the key to success. I learned that years ago. And I am not one to easily give up.” Zarya said, looking over the characters once more. They had already been here for the duration of their lesson, but Zarya would not settle for anything less than perfect. She had been giving these vows her utmost attention for the past month, paying close attention to everything Zenyatta told her and practicing when Mei was in the labs, completely unaware of her plan to surprise her. It had taken hard work, but Mei’s happiness was motivation enough for Zarya to overcome any obstacle that came between her and the Chinese vows. 

After three consecutive weeks of learning Chinese from Zenyatta, Zarya felt much different about three things. First, she was one-hundred percent confident that her vows would be something she was proud of for the rest of her life, something she wasn’t sure of when she begun to learn. Mei would hopefully remember them for a long time, and her family would know exactly what kind of woman their daughter married. Second, learning a new language was extremely difficult. Apparently Zarya remembered nothing from her first attempts to learn English, and had assumed that she would get the vows down within a week. That had been the opposite of what happened - every day she found a new challenge, a new character that she didn’t remember the pronunciation of or something that bothered her that hadn’t in the past. 

And the last had to do with her teacher himself. Zarya had been extremely reluctant to ask for Zenyatta’s help to learn the language at first, having to drag herself by the hair to the support quarters to demand he teach her. But despite her doubts, he’d actually done it, and he hadn’t teased her for asking for an Omnic’s help. He’d written down everything she needed to help her learn properly, and taught her all the words she wanted to say, including a few basic conversational phrases and topics when they had the time. All to impress Mei and make promises to her she would never forget, something Zarya was willing to step outside of her comfort zone to make happen. Of course, this didn’t meant Zarya would change much of her opinion towards Zenyatta. The amount that it had already shifted was enough for her, and she was waiting (although patiently) for the day that these lessons would be done. 

“The sound for this word,” Zarya said, pointing out the Pinyin Zenyatta had written down underneath one of the characters. “I do not think it is right. It is too harsh to mean the same as it does in English. Is there another pronunciation that will work better?”

“It is a different language, Aleksandra. Tender words in one tongue will not always sound tender in another tongue. The important thing is that they mean the same thing,” Zenyatta said. “Mei will understand it.”

“But it does not sound right.”

“Perhaps it just doesn’t sound right today. You haven’t pointed it out before.”

Zarya scoffed. “I am not sure if I should trust that you have the right opinion here. After all, I was the one that wrote this.”

“Yes, but after all, I am the one with the universal translator chip. Put a little bit of trust in me for this once.” Zenyatta said, brushing a little bit of lint off of his pants. 

“I have been trusting you to teach me the proper language for weeks. I can only assume that your knowledge is adequate, in fact - wait a second. How do I know that you have not been teaching me gibberish this entire time?” Zarya asked, her eyebrows raised in suspicion. 

Zenyatta did nothing in response. “You don’t. You put your trust in me at the beginning to help you. And look at how it’s paid off.”

“That is something I should have never done.” Zarya grumbled, but Zenyatta shook his head.

“Had you not, you would have never learned this language. Many barriers must be overcome in order to achieve a goal. Sometimes they are not ones we want to face, but we must. And you’ve been exceeding my expectations this entire time. I am quite proud of your progress, Aleksandra.”

“Hard work pays off. That is nothing special.” Zarya said, but Zenyatta shook his head.

“I am proud of that as well, but that was not the progress I was referring to,” Zenyatta said. “In the past, I haven’t been able to say a sentence to you before receiving an insult or threat. In fact, I think this is the longest you’ve spent in the same room as me without threatening my life. You’ve overcome a great barrier to achieve your goal, and I am happy to help you both learn a new skill and see the world a little clearer.”

Zarya was silent. “Say anything like that again, Omnic, and I will tear your arms off.”

Zenyatta nodded again. “I understand. Let’s return to the lesson.”

They continued to review the vows, Zarya going over them syllable by syllable, character by character. By now she was used to asking questions after ever sentence, something Zenyatta never berated her for. He insisted that no question was a bad one, and that any confusion she had was valid. It was a method to learning that Zarya had never really taken before, but she ended up appreciating his patience. She hated to admit it, but her head did take some time to wrap around new concepts, and she did appreciate all the help he gave her. 

Today seemed to be a day where she just couldn’t remember much from their past lessons. Zarya assumed it had to do with her lack of sleep from last night. She really should have listened to Mei when she suggested she go to sleep. “What about this letter?” she asked as she pointed out a Pinyin letter on the page. “What does it sound like, again?”

“A long ‘i’, like as in ‘my’,” Zenyatta answered her with. “Accents in some languages tend to be very helpful with distinguishing different sounds and tones from each other. I must say I am disappointed that English makes very little use of them. Perhaps you should learn Vietnamese next to see their effect.”

“I have no need to learn it. Why, do you speak it?”

“ _Very poorly, but good enough to suffice_.” Zenyatta answered in the language, and Zarya sighed when she didn’t understand it. Another thing she’d learned from these lessons was that Zenyatta was not just an out-of-place peaceful Omnic with a reputation for being a little creepy. He had a terrible sense of humour, and a worse habit of sass. She wondered how she even got this far without attempting to shut him up forcefully. 

“Still, these accents are quite confusing. As are the characters,” Zarya said. “Though they are much more familiar than they were before. I have memorized them and their order instead of reading them off the page, you know.”

“If that is the method that allows you to learn them, then it is fine. Besides, I think it is too late to change much of anything with these vows,” Zenyatta said. “When is the wedding again?”

“Next week. I trust we will not stop these lessons before then, correct?”

“Of course not. To give up now would be destroying all of our progress.”

“You mean my-” Zarya began to say, but she stopped before she finished the sentence. “Yes, all of our progress. Thank you for staying over our time, by the way.”

“It’s no trouble. I do think this is a wonderful idea - have I mentioned that before?” Zenyatta asked, and Zarya nodded. “Ah, well, I’ll say it again. This really does show how much you care for Mei-Ling. Learning a whole new skill just for her shows you are willing to put in as much time as you can for her, just because you love her. That is your core motivation, right?” Zarya nodded again. “Wonderful. And the vows are beautiful, of course. Do you write poetry by any chance?”

“No,” Zarya said. “Though I do enjoy reading it when the chance arises.”

“Wonderful,” Zenyatta said, and Zarya tried not to pinch herself for telling him that. 

They continued on for a while longer, Zarya’s thoughts going back to Mei all throughout the rest of the extended lesson. She remembered her voice reading her to sleep from last night, the night from a few weeks ago when they kissed underneath the night sky, and every other time from the past month that they’d been together. In a few days, they would be married, wife and wife for life. These vows and promises would always be in both of their minds and memories, if all went as planned. The reality of it all was pouring in, and Zarya couldn’t be readier for it to happen.

After another half an hour of practicing, Zarya left the greenhouse with a smile, excited to practice the vows on her own and call Mei again tonight. Everything was coming together perfectly. Change was happening in Zarya’s life, and she was happy to accept it. She could have skipped back to her room, although she didn’t feel the need to draw the attention of any other agents. Still, she laid down after she got back, closing her eyes to catch up on sleep and also dream of what was yet to come in her relationship with Mei.


	4. the wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so sorry that this took so long to put up! i took a break to focus on my fics for mchanzo week, and unfortunately that took up all my time. hopefully it was worth it, and hopefully the extra length of this chapter is enough to make up for it.  
> this is the last one, so thank you to everyone that commented or left kudos! i really appreciate them because it tells me people actually like what i'm writing. still, enjoy the fic, and thank you!

Zarya fiddled with the knot of her golden tie. She could tell that it was much too small and tight, and nothing like the knot she had been going for. Perhaps she should have opted to wear the bow tie instead. 

But it was too late to make any wardrobe changes; she was here in Xi’an, standing in a small garden with Mei in front of her, who was blushing redder than her dress. There was a summer breeze blowing through, cooling Zarya’s nerves at the same time as her body temperature. The eyes of all her friends and Mei’s family were on her, smiling and taking a few pictures as the two women stood in front of their officiator, the ceremony continuing on as it had been for the last five minutes or so. 

They had arrived in China two days ago together, and Mei’s entire family had taken them from the airport to a house in the north of the city. Zarya had been expecting maybe one or two of her girlfriend’s relatives to greet her when she arrived, but no, there had been at least fifteen sisters, parents, and cousins combined that each shook Zarya’s hand and hugged her tight.

They’d all introduced themselves to her, which took around half an hour, and each paid her compliments on all the things Mei had told them about her. It was good to know that Mei wasn’t the odd one out in her family - everyone was just as talkative and proud as she was. Zarya received quite a few red envelopes and wedding gifts when she arrived - lots of stuffed bears and jewellery that she would never wear. Still, she knew Mei’s family meant the best, and couldn’t have been more relieved by their hospitality

Mei’s youngest sister, Lan, had gladly showed Zarya around the house when she first got there, asking excited questions about workout routines and Olympic training. She was a track athlete, and had apparently been pestering Mei to get her girlfriend’s fitness plan for months. Once everyone else had gone to bed, the two of them along with Mei and Jingyi talked with each other, and Zarya had made good on Mei’s promise that she could lift both of the Zhou sisters over her head at once. 

All of the last guests had arrived this morning, including some Overwatch agents that were close to Mei. Zarya had offered Zenyatta a chance to attend as well, as a proper thanks for teaching her, but he was unable to attend. Apparently him and Genji had a very important dinner they’d been planning for months on the same day, and he wouldn’t be able to miss it. Zarya hadn’t pressed the subject further, not really knowing whether Omnics could eat dinner at all. She had thanked him for his services, and warned that if he told anyone she didn’t despise him as much as she used to, she would reroute a few of his wires.

And now, after weeks of preparation and excitement, they were here. Zarya’s friends were sitting amongst Mei’s family, quietly cheering her on as she listened to their officiator speak about luck, happiness, and true love. Both of them looked ‘stunning’, as Mei’s mother had described it that morning, and Zarya couldn’t disagree. Mei’s dress was simple and pretty, trailing down past her ankles and embellished with gold swirls and flowers. Zarya was glad her suit matched the details along with the rest of her entourage, who were all wearing golden suits that sparkled in the afternoon sunlight.

“Mei-Ling is my eldest niece,” the officiator continued to say, beaming down at a blushing Mei. “Ever since she was a child, I saw the luck and light in her. I knew that she would attract admiration and loyalty wherever she went, with whoever she chose. When she was still in school, I made her promise that she would never choose a husband that treated her any less than the way a king treats his queen, else I would have to interfere myself. And now, I know that her wife will show her unconditional love and care for every minute of their lives together. Or, at least I hope so, because I am a little bit reluctant to interfere with her.”

Zarya chuckled as the aunt continued on to describe the benefits soon to come of their love and marriage. Mei’s hands were fluttering by her sides, filled with nervous energy as her aunt shared her hopes for her niece’s future, as well as her trust in Zarya to take care of her. Zarya knew she didn’t have to promise that - it was already something she did without a thought, a priority that would always remain a priority, whether they were married or not. 

“Now, that is all I have to say,” the aunt concluded her speech with, holding her hands up. “I will leave it to Mei and Aleksandra for their vows and promises. Which one of you will be going first?”

Mei raised a shaky hand. “If I can?” she asked quietly, and Zarya nodded, smiling wide at her. She knew Mei was just as nervous as she was, and wanted to make her feel as safe and comfortable as possible on a day like this. Mei took a deep breath, and smiled back.

“Aleksandra. From the first day I met you, while helping you find your way out of a quarantined chemical lab, I knew you were going to be an amazing part of my life. I can’t really begin to explain to everyone how much happiness you’ve brought me, and how big a part of me you are. Only you know. So take this as you see it, and as you see me. 

“Alex, I promise to always be there for you, no matter if I’m in the same room or miles away. I promise to always help you find your way when you get lost, and to give you the pushes you need to keep going when you get stuck. I want to listen to you talk as much as you listen to me, and I want to be with you through sun, rain, and freezing blizzards. I promise to never leave your side, and I promise to be your crutches when you are hurting, or when you need me at all.

“And most of all, I promise to always love you. More than anything else in the world. More than I’ve ever loved you before. You deserve everything, and I want to make sure you get as much as I can give. So I take you as my wife, forever and ever and ever, and even after that. And if you’ll have me, too, that would be the most amazing thing I’ve ever had.”

As Mei finished, her family clapped loudly for her, and she giggled quietly, taking a relieved breath. Zarya couldn’t stop smiling - Mei had been keeping her vows secret as well, and she couldn’t have possibly known how beautiful they would be. She felt a spark of happiness as she remembered that she would get to hear her beautiful words for the rest of her life. 

Mei’s aunt motioned to her for her owns vows after the applause died down, and the spark of happiness turned into nervous energy. She silently told herself to relax; she’d repeated this a million times before, forwards and backwards and in her sleep. 

But now it had meaning to it. Now, the vows weren’t just characters and syllables and accents arranged on a sheet of paper. Now they were promises at her wedding with Mei, words that would last a lifetime and would hopefully never be forgotten. All she could do was try her best, and hope they would be just as wonderful as Mei’s. 

Zarya took two deep breaths. “Mei,” she began. _“My little bear.” ___

____

_“I am a woman of few words. But even while looking through three languages for ways to say how much I love you, I cannot find enough to say. You are not just one woman to me - you are the world, and you are every bit worth protecting. You have changed me for the better over the years. And while I can never repay you, I can give it my all to try. ___

_____ _

She paused for a second to collect her breath, and caught a glimpse of Mei’s face as she looked up. Her expression was unlike anything Zarya had seen before - her soft eyes were open wide, and her hand was covering her mouth in surprise. Zarya had to hold back a sigh of relief - her Chinese was understandable, at least. 

_____ _

_“So, I promise to be the world for you in return. I promise to be your rock, your anchor and your sail. I promise to brave every storm you go through, swim oceans and climb mountains to be there for you. I promise to be stronger than I have ever been as your wife, and guardian. ___

_______ _ _ _

_“And at the same time, I promise to be beside you. I promise to wake with you, live with you, and dream with you. I will listen to every word and cherish every second, celebrate every victory and overcome every loss. I will be your partner, your sword and shield, and I will always be beside you when you need me to. ___

_________ _ _ _ _ _

_“Mei-Ling Zhou, I love you, and will love you forever until I cannot do so any more. I take you as my wife, and hold both hands out to you, in the hope that you will have me as well.” ___

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zarya finished, and realized that her hands had been shaking the entire time. Mei’s family clapped along with her Russian friends, who were very confused but happy for her all the same. Mei rubbed her eyes, and Zarya almost started to cry along with her. She knew she’d sworn not to cry at her wedding a long time ago, but the sheer reality of it all was making her more emotional than she’d expected to be. Every second of it had been perfect, and she was so glad to be here with the woman she loved. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Well, I think enough has been said,” Mei’s aunt said, clapping her hands together. “I now pronounce you both as wife and wife. May you always be safe, lucky, and happy together.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mei didn’t wait another second before tugging Zarya down by her sleeves into a kiss. The whole garden was full of applause and congratulatory cheers, but Zarya barely noticed it. All she cared about was Mei, her wife, kissing her as she kissed back, both trying not to sob onto each other’s clothes. She got lost in her, letting the family’s celebration continue on as she enjoyed this day for what it was - a celebration of love, joy, and happiness. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zarya tapped her foot as she watched the younger children chase each other around the ballroom. The party was in full swing, and it hadn’t even been twenty minutes since they’d started to dance. A popular song was playing as the guests danced, talking and laughing along with the music. Zarya wanted to grab Mei and join the fun, but she was nowhere to be found. So, for the time being, she settled for watching everyone enjoy themselves in celebration of their love. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The post-ceremony reception had been amazing. There was more food than Zarya had ever seen in her life at the banquet, and she hadn’t hesitated to take as much roast pig as she wanted. Her comrades had joked that they’d need another year’s worth of duty to get rid of all the treats they’d had, and Mei had made sure everyone knew that it was her uncles who made everything. The two women nearly started a food fight when they took first bites of the cake, resulting in a few stains on the tablecloth that Zarya promised to take care of later. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

As her and Mei went around toasting the guests during dinner, the subject of her vows had come up more times than she’d expected. Nearly everyone had told her how wonderful and beautiful they’d sounded, and a few had started full-on conversations in Mandarin that Zarya was able to carry quite well. Apparently, learning the basics she’d hated so much had paid off in the end. Lan told her that her while her Chinese did sound pretty foreign, it wasn’t terrible, and she’d be happy to teach her more in exchange for that fitness plan.

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

They’d had their first dance half an hour ago, and as expected, it had been atrocious. Mei had stepped on Zarya’s feet more times than she could count, and Zarya nearly swung Mei into the crowd at full force at one point. But it had been beautiful in its own way, with Mei’s purple ball gown swirling as she twirled, and their fingers lacing together with their matching rings on. They’d laughed through it all, and shared another kiss to rounds of applause, clearing off to let better dancers take the stage when it was done. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Now, Zarya had lost Mei in the crowd, and was standing by herself. More people had come up to congratulate her on her marriage and hand her red envelopes, as well as offering to dance with her before Mei got back before leaving for either the dance floor or the free alcohol. She’d had a few more conversations in Mandarin, most about either the private business of other guests or the weather. Still, it was good to be getting to know her new extended family already. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zarya looked around at her surroundings again. Jingyi was having a giggly conversation with a boy nearby, and one of Mei’s uncles was dancing slowly with another man in the crowd. All of her own friends had disappeared as well, probably wandering around outside or looking for people to have their own fun with. Zarya knew they’d never let an opportunity to party pass them by, and she was happy they got this chance to have one. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Her eyes searched the busy room for a sign of her wife, probably wearing her last outfit of the day and trying to find her way to Zarya as well. She reached out to stretch her arms, and without noticing, hit Mei’s mother in the nose.

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Miss Zhou!” she exclaimed when she realized what she’d done, rushing to help her new mother-in-law as she titled her head back and groaned. “I am so sorry, I didn’t see you coming-”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“No worry, no need to worry,” Mei’s mother said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “It was an accident, they always happen.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Do you need something cold? I, well…there must be a cold bottle of something nearby.” Zarya said, frantically searching around for something before Mei’s mother put her hand up to stop her.

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I’m fine. No blood, see?” She held her hand up with a strange kind of smile. “I was just coming to see how you’re doing. Where is Mei-Ling, if I can ask?”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I am sorry, but I think I’ve lost her.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Ah, probably showing off to her cousins. I’m sure she’ll find her way back to you eventually.” Miss Zhou said, wiping her nose a last time as she came to stand beside her. She was around the height of Zarya’s neck even in her flat shoes, allowing their eyes to actually meet as they talked. She looked very nice in a peach-coloured coat and dress, and was practically beaming with joy, something Zarya wasn’t surprised by. After all, it was the day of her eldest daughter’s wedding - she had quite a lot to be happy about. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I wanted to congratulate you again, especially on your vows. Mei didn’t tell me you spoke Chinese.” Miss Zhou said, fixing her hair back into its tie. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“She didn’t know, either. I planned it as a surprise.” Zarya said, and she laughed in response.

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“That’s wonderful. You spoke very well. I understood every word.” she said, patting Zarya on the shoulder. This was the first time they’d gotten to talk to each other after the ceremony, and unlike a lot of the conversations she’d had with Mei’s family tonight, it wasn’t strange or awkward. “Did you write it yourself as well?”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zarya nodded. “Every word was from my own heart, Miss Zhou.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“You write such beautiful poetry, Aleksandra. Remind me to ask you for help on my thank-you notes after this, alright?” She laughed again, and Zarya was beginning to think she’d maybe had her fair share of drinks for the night already. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“But you really should be proud. Not many foreigners care to learn the conversational bits of a new language before traveling, much less their own wedding vows. It means a lot to me that you would do that, especially for Mei-Ling.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I wanted it to be a special thing for her,” Zarya explained. “I am sure they would have been just as nice in English. But I am the kind of person who loves a good challenge, and a challenge in the name of the woman I love is more than worth trying to overcome.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Oh, of course,” Miss Zhou patted her on the shoulder again, and Zarya looked to see her smiling. “Love makes us do ridiculous things. I once ran into a river for my husband, bless him. He’d lost both of his shoes after a fight with one of his enemies in the street, and they fell in after he threw them at the poor man. I dived right in after them, of course - I wasn’t about to let him walk all the way back home barefoot. Unfortunately I had to go back soaked in water, but it was worth it.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zarya didn’t really know what to say in response, so she just nodded, and Miss Zhou continued on her spiel. “Of course, your situation is much different than mine. I’m sure you knew the vows would have been the same in English, but the fact that you took that extra step tells me a lot about you.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“What exactly does it tell you?”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Miss Zhou’s smile curled up into a proud grin. “It tells me that you are the best woman my daughter could possibly have taken as her wife. I told all my children to never settle for second best, not even if they are the prettiest, richest, or best person they’d ever seen. And while I often fear for my younger daughters, I can sleep comfortably knowing that Mei will never have to carry a weight alone, or settle for a life that she knows she won’t be pleased with. Mei deserves you, and you deserve her - simple as that.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Thank you, Miss Zhou. Your daughter is my everything.” Zarya said, feeling a warmth in her cheeks as Mei’s mother nodded. She was really relieved that she’d gotten the reaction she had been going for, and that she’d made so many people happy with her vows. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Please, I am Yuzhen. Or mom, if you wish to call me that.” she laughed again, making Zarya blush even more. 

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Of course,” she chuckled. “It is wonderful getting to know you, nevertheless.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“And you, Aleksandra. I would love to meet your parents someday, as well.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Perhaps in another life. I’m sure you’ve already met my comrades, and they are practically my family.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I have, I have. Did you decide on who’s last name you’re using yet, or did you want to keep your own?”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I like Zarya Zhou, actually,” Zarya said, nodding her head from side to side. “It feels right.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Well, whichever you choose, I am glad to know someone so wonderful is a part of my daughter’s life,” Miss Zhou said, taking Zarya’s hand and squeezing it tight. “Make sure you two visit us here again, okay? I know it is easy to get caught up in the early days of marriage, but at least call me to tell me how everything is working out.”

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

As Zarya nodded, she heard someone shout for her, and looked to see Mei standing in the crowd a few metres away. She had changed into a floral party dress, and had taken her hair out of the fancy updo it’d been in for the rest of the day. Zarya waved to her, and Mei made her way over quickly, with a concerned look on her face.

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“Mom, how long have you been here for?” _she asked her mother in Chinese as she approached the two of them, quickly smoothing out some of the wrinkles in her dress.__

_____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“I was only speaking to my daughter-in-law, Mei-Ling. We were wondering where you’d gone. There was no gossip, don't worry. You look wonderful, by the way.” _Miss Zhou assured her, smiling a genuinely pleased smile instead of the mischievous grin she’d been using with Zarya.__

_______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“Thank you, mom. You look great, too.” _Mei sighed in relief as her mother nodded slowly, and turned to Zarya. “Sorry I ducked off, Alex, I had to go change out of that thing. I think we ordered the wrong size - or maybe it was just all the food we had before. My aunt pulled me away before I could tell you where I was going.”__

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“It is alright, little bear. At least you found your way back.” Zarya said, smiling down at her. She couldn’t shake the happy feeling in her chest - she was married to Mei, the prettiest girl she’d ever seen and most wonderful woman she’d ever been with. She had the feeling that she would be riding this high for the next month or so all the way back to Overwatch. She hoped the other tank agents wouldn’t get sick of hearing her gush about her new wife.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Miss Zhou said, giving the both of them a firm pat on the shoulder. “Enjoy the rest of the party, alright? And make sure you find me at the end to say goodbye to everyone, okay?”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay, mom.” Mei said as her mother walked off, past the dancers and towards the drinks set up on a far table. It was just the two of them left behind, standing beside each other as Zarya tapped her foot to the music playing. It had changed to a slow song, and she watched as couples grabbed each other to sway side by side on the dance floor. 

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“So, has it gone the way you wanted it to?” Zarya asked Mei, who was smoothing out her dress again.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“The wedding? It’s gone perfectly,” she answered happily. “The ceremony was better than I could’ve ever expected it to be, and dinner was amazing, too…you’ve been enjoying it as much as me, right?”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Of course I have. How can I not when you’re here?” Zarya said. “Everything is just as it should be, love.”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mei smiled, and let out a happy sigh. “I still can’t get over the ceremony - everything was so beautiful.”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Did you like my vows?” Zarya asked with a smirk.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Yes! Alex, where did you even learn that? I don’t know anyone else in Overwatch that speaks Chinese - unless it was one of your friends from Russia? Or a tutor?”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zarya shook her head. “The Omnic, Zenyatta. He taught me. He has a chip of some sort that let him translate it for me, and teach me how to say it perfectly.”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Mei’s smile fell, and she looked confused again. “Omnic?”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I know, I know. I sacrificed my pride to impress my girlfriend. But it was worth it,” she said, squeezing Mei’s hand as she did. “Wasn’t it?”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Of course it was. I just loved it, Alex, I loved it so much. You really learned all of that for me?” 

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Who else would I do it for? You can be so foolish sometimes, mishka,” Zarya said, and Mei giggled. “I wanted to make sure you knew how much you mean to me. And if I couldn’t say it perfectly in English, then I had to say in perfectly in another language.”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“But I already know.” Mei said with another giggle.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“And now, everyone else does, too.” Zarya responded, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. 

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“It was amazing, so amazing. I admit, I did feel that my vows were a little less impressive after you said yours-” Mei said, and Zarya held up her hand to stop her.

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“No, no, don’t think that way. Your vows were beautiful, Mei” she assured her. “Everything you said was perfect. You have to teach me how to write like you do. I can tell you them again, if you’ve forgotten them…”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“That’s okay, Alex, I’m only joking. I’m happy you liked them.” Mei smiled again. “I still can’t believe you learned all of that for me in…what was it, three months? That’s a lot to learn.”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Only one month, actually. I didn’t have the idea until very recently.” Zarya said, and Mei made a fake frown.

“Oh, you always show off! Now I’ll have to learn Russian to impress you next.” she said with a huff, and Zarya took her hand. 

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“And I will help you do that, _mishka. _” she said, and planted a kiss on Mei’s forehead. Mei put her arms around her shoulders and gently pulled her into a real kiss. It lasted forever as they stood alone, loving everything about each other, and both filled to the brim with happiness. They were finally married - everything was perfect.__

____

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

“Do you want to go to the dance floor again?” Mei asked as she slowly pulled her lips away. “My mom wants to get a chance to dance with you before it’s too late. She says she’s always wondered what it would be like to have a dance partner that is taller than her.”

____

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

“I’d be happy to,” Zarya said. “But first, we dance together.” She took Mei’s hand, feeling their rings line up with each other, and tugged her towards the dance floor as the song changed to an upbeat tune. 

____

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____

The guests cheered and made room for them in the middle, watching as the two women swayed and spun each other around. They danced without any sense of rhythm whatsoever, and it couldn’t have been more graceful. It didn’t matter who was watching them - they were happy, and relieved that all of the stress of the planning was behind them. Both Zarya and Mei couldn’t stop smiling for the whole time, knowing that they would get to be like this for the rest of their lives, and even after that.

____

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____


End file.
